Proposed are directional control hydraulic valves and a system including the same, the system including: a first valve controlling a flow of a fluid flowing thereinto from a first input port by being interlocked with a solenoid valve that is switched to an excited (on) state or non-excited (off) state; and a second valve connected to the first valve and controlling a flow of the fluid flowing thereinto from the first valve by a fluid flowing thereinto from a second input port or a third input port, wherein at least a part of the fluid having been passed through the first valve is discharged through a first output port and then flows into the second input port or the third input port. In addition, the system including at least two directional control valves may be provide, whereby multiplexing of the system may be implemented.

A system and method for the controlled lowering and lifting of a load are disclosed. The system and method may include operating a work machine having a hydraulic system including a hydraulic actuator for supporting a load, a first control valve in fluid communication with the actuator, and a controller for operating the first control valve. In one embodiment, the controller includes a first algorithm for operating the first control valve in a load lowering operation. When an operational fault within the hydraulic system is detected, the controller can be configured to enter into a safe lowering mode. In the safe lowering mode, the first algorithm is disabled and a pulse width modulation (PWM) current is sent from the controller to the first control valve. A user interface is provided to allow an operator to control the PWM current duty ratio to allow the load supported by the actuator to be lowered.

The disclosure provides a method for testing a solenoid valve for triggering a safety valve having a single-acting fluidic drive and a positioner. The drive fluid pressure is increased by a first pressure difference. An attempt is made to switch the solenoid valve to the safety position. The drive fluid pressure is measured at a specified point in time that is selected such that the pressure in the drive fluid lowers at most by the first pressure difference. If the pressure in the drive fluid is higher than a reference pressure at the specified point in time, the functionality test of the solenoid valve is failed. The lowering of the pressure in the drive fluid is monitored over a defined period of time to make conclusions regarding the pressure generating system. The pressure does not fall below the operating pressure so the position of the valve member remains constant.

A selector control that is manually operable by a user for activating or deactivating a primary control or a secondary control. The selector control may include a first state for activating the primary control and deactivating the secondary control, a second state for activating the secondary control and deactivating the primary control, and a failsafe state for deactivating both the primary control and the secondary control. The selector control may be configured to maintain the second state independent of continuous user input being applied to the selector control, and configured to maintain the first state when continuous user input is applied to the selector control. The selector control is normally biased toward the failsafe state such that the selector control automatically selects the failsafe state when the user discontinues applying the user input for maintaining the first state. The selector control has particular application for use in controlling a boom of a work vehicle.

There is provided an hydraulic actuation system for an aircraft, the hydraulic actuation system includes an actuator (A), a primary actuation arrangement to provide hydraulic fluid to control the actuator (A), wherein the hydraulic actuation system is configured to detect a fault in the actuator (A). The hydraulic actuation system also includes a secondary actuation arrangement to provide hydraulic fluid to control the actuator (A) in response to a detection of a fault in the actuator (A).

An electrohydraulic system includes an output shaft, a hydraulic piston, and a preload device. The output shaft rotationally drives the valve and extends along a first axis. The hydraulic piston extends along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis, is actuated by a pressure medium, and rotates the output shaft. The preload device stores energy via preloading of an elastic element, which extends along a third axis, by a hydraulic cylinder and to transmit the energy to the output shaft in the event of a fault. The hydraulic piston is guided into first and second cylinder housings, and at least one of the cylinder housings is connected to the hydraulic cylinder. A check valve is arranged between the cylinder housing and the hydraulic cylinder, and is configured to decouple the preload device from the hydraulic piston, the blocking direction going from the hydraulic cylinder to the cylinder housing.

A method is proposed for establishing termination criteria for a partial stroke test on a safety valve, including: a) A partial stroke test is carried out when the safety valve is operational. b) Position of the valve member and pressure in the drive fluid are recorded. c) A first relation is derived, which relates position of the valve member, time, pressure of the drive fluid, and/or control deviation to one another. d) This relation is defined as a safety valve reference curve. e) A second relation is defined, which has a predetermined distance from the reference curve. f) Termination criterion include: If the partial stroke test is repeated on the same valve, the same data are recorded and a third relation is derived for the reference curve, the partial stroke test is not passed if the third relation has a greater distance to the reference curve than the second relation.

A valve (V, V1, V2) includes a housing (VG) and a piston (VK) displaceably guided therein. A first end (VK1) of the piston (VK) can be acted upon by a force, with the aid of which the piston (VK) is displaceable against a spring (F) acting upon a second end (VK2) of the piston (VK). The valve (V, V1, V2) has four switching conditions, in which four ports (A, B, P, T) in the housing (VG) are selectively connectable to one another or blocked with respect to one another. In a first switching condition, none of the ports (A, B, P, T) are connected to one another. The spring (F) is configured in such that, in the absence of an application of force onto the first end (VK1), the piston (VK) is held in a position, which corresponds to the first switching condition of the valve (V, V1, V2).

A hydraulic pressure amplifier arrangement (1) comprising a supply port (IN), a return port (R), a high pressure port (H1), and a pressure amplifier unit (2) having a low pressure inlet (3) connected to the supply port (IN) and a high pressure outlet (4) connected to the high pressure port (H1) is described, wherein the pressure amplifier unit (2) comprises an amplification factor. In such a hydraulic pressure amplifier arrangement it should be possible to allow simply releasing off pressure at the high pressure port while keeping small unnecessary energy consumption. To this end a control valve (8) is arranged in a connection between the high pressure port (H1) and the return port (R).

A shovel includes a lower traveling body, an upper traveling body turnably mounted on the lower traveling body, a hydraulic actuator, an operating apparatus configured to be operated to operate the hydraulic actuator, an object detector configured to detect an object within a predetermined area around the shovel, a gate lock lever configured to switch the operating apparatus between an enabled state and a disabled state, and a control device. The control device is configured to switch the operating apparatus between the enabled state and the disabled state separately from the gate lock lever, and to disable the operating apparatus in response to determining that the object is present within the predetermined area based on the output of the object detector while the operating apparatus is switched to the enabled state by the gate lock lever, during the standby state of the shovel.